Chapter 30
Grappling with a Guardian: Part 1
"Yami vs Rafael Round 2"
"Come on, Joey. Say something. Don't do this to us, man!" Rainbow said as she shook him, desperately trying to get her friend back, but it was no use. "I don't think he's able to hear us." Yami said as tears formed in his eyes and in the eyes of those around him. "As soon as I get my hands on Dartz and his remaining Doma punks, they're gonna wish they were never born!" Tristan said, angrily.
"Calm down, Tristan. Anger won't solve anything." AJ said, putting his hand on Tristan's shoulder. "If I were to hazard a guess, based on what we saw on the way here, Valon was first to fall, and then Joey fell because of someone else. Someone who dueled him after he beat Valon." Twilight theorized. "Something tells me I know who it was, Mai did this. I'm sure of it." Tristan figured. "How could she?" Fluttershy said, heartbroken and betrayed.
"It wasn't her intention, she was just trying to get rid of the nightmares of Marik that haunted her since Battle City ended. Who wouldn't have PTSD after being in the Shadow Realm?" Pinkie figured. "Pinkie's right, and there's only one person we can blame for all of this. And I think you all know who I mean." Yami pointed out. "He hides safely in that façade of a company headquarters while others do his dirty work. But not anymore!" he continued before running off. "Yami, wait!" Fluttershy called, but her words fell on deaf ears.
Yami kept running. 'This all ends now, Dartz.' he thought as he ran towards the Paradius building. Once inside, the ancient one heard Dartz laughing. "We've been expecting you, Pharaoh." he said. Yami looked around but didn't see anyone in the lobby, but he quickly noticed the elevator was coming down. But once the doors opened, Yami saw that it was Mai. However, upon saying her name, the ancient one saw her collapse onto him.
"Mai, say something." he said, but there was no immediate reply. Yami looked inside the elevator and saw a white feather falling. 'She must've been involved in a duel, and it appears that she lost. Both the duel and her soul.' he thought as he propped her soulless body against the wall. 'I must put a stop to this madness.' he added before boarding the elevator. As the elevator climbed to higher floors of the building, Yami took the opportunity to organize and shuffle his deck, because based on the feather he saw, he KNEW who beaten Mai.
Soon, the elevator stopped and the door opened to the roof. "It's about time you showed up for our rematch." said a familiar voice. "This doesn't have to concern you, Rafael. I'm here to see Dartz." Yami said as he approached one of only three others to have defeated him in a duel. "Is your master so much of a coward that he sends you to fight his battles for him?" the ancient one asked.
"Not quite. You owe me something. But first..." Raf replied before tossing a card to Yami. "Why don't you take this?" he asked before Yami saw that the card he caught was Hermos, Joey's Legendary Dragon. "The Claw of Hermos was Joey's card. You're the one who defeated him, aren't you?" the ancient one asked. "Actually, Mai was the one who defeated Joey by means of a forfeit, Joey was too exhausted to finish the duel. Then Mai came here and I defeated her." Raf replied. "But why? Wasn't Mai a member of Doma like you?" Yami asked.
"To be honest, I never trusted her the day that Valon brought her into my life and it turns out that I was right all along. She told me what happened in her duel against Joey, then she turned on us. It was the biggest mistake she ever made and unfortunately for her, her best wasn't good enough." Raf answered before remembering his duel against her.
"This madness has to stop! Just think of how many innocent lives have been destroyed. You may be next!" Yami stated. "Do you really think I care about the innocents or myself in all this? I made a commitment to help Master Dartz save the planet from crumbling at the hands of people like you. And if keeping my promise means giving up my own soul, then so be it. Because even if I'm captured by the Seal of Orichalcos, I'll be doing my part, by giving The Great Leviathan the strength it needs to restore peace to the world once again!" Raf replied.
"Wake up! Can't you see that your so-called master is just using you to satisfy his own selfish needs?! If you really want to save the world, stop fighting against me and join me!" Yami replied. "As soon as the Great Beast is revived, I'm afraid you and your allies will no longer exist, Pharaoh. And all it needs to truly get started is one more strong soul." Raf retorted before they both looked up and saw what seemed to be the outline of the Great Leviathan.
"Oh, no. That's the creature." Yami said in alarm. "You better believe it. As we speak, the Great Leviathan is lurking in all the shadows from London to Domino City, and all over the rest of the world. And as soon as I beat you, your life energy will be offered to the beast, giving it the strength it needs to fully cross over into our world." Raf replied as the creature's outline went from London, to Domino City, to Paris, to Sydney, to Giza, to Beijing, to New York City.
All over the world, people saw the outline of the Great Leviathan. Meanwhile, back in Phoenix, the rescue team was on their way to Paradius while AJ carried Joey on her back. "Why in tarnation did Yami just take off like that?" she asked. "I bet he went after Dartz." Rainbow figured before heard a car come to a stop behind them. "Guys, it's us!" said a familiar voice before they saw it was the Kaiba Bros as they stepped out of the car.
"Nice ride." Tristan admitted. "Well, this is a surprise, you didn't get to Paradius headquarters before me." Seto said. "So what happened to Wheeler? Bite off more than he could chew?" he asked. "You try fighting to duels one after another." Rainbow replied. "Uh, guys...?" Mokuba said, worried. "What is it, Mokuba? More of those creeps I dealt with?" Seto asked.
"No, it's worse!" Mokuba answered before they all looked and saw a MASSIVE swarm of Orichalcos controlled rats heading their way like they had the bubonic plague. "I may like animals, but this is one time I DON'T want the company of rats!" Fluttershy said in horror. "Those pesky varmints must be Dartz's pets." AJ figured. "Ugh, I despise those rodents!" Rarity said in disgust. "No time to stand around. This way, up the fire escape!" Seto ordered before they all started heading up the fire escape to get away from those sewer-dwelling pests.
"Where'd they come from? And where are they going?" Twilight asked. "I smell a much bigger rat and his name is Dartz." Seto figured. "Only thing is, why's our 'Pied Piper' commanding rats to attack on his order?" Pinkie asked. Meanwhile, miles beneath the Atlantic Ocean, the Great Leviathan was awakening. Back at Paradius, Raf continued to monologue. "As we speak, the most devastating creature that ever lived is waiting to rise again. All it needs now is your soul and the sacred Seal of Orichalcos will take care of that once I take you down." he said.
"Of course, I already defeated you once. But you managed to cheat me by letting the soul of the boy whose body you inhabit be taken instead of you." he added as he remembered the end of their last duel. "I doubt you'll be able to pull a stunt like that again, Pharaoh. I don't appreciate being lied to and its likely you wouldn't want to leave Yugi's body unattended. And so, its just you and me. The winner walks away with their soul, the loser becomes a prisoner to the Orichalcos Stone!" he continued.
"Alright! If that's what it takes to set my friends free, then let's duel! And once you're out of my way, I'll go straight for Dartz! It's just a shame that a Duelist with your talents is going to throw it all away by following a madman." Yami replied. "Master Dartz opened me up to the truth and made me who I am. You're just jealous because you don't have one of these, right? Well, not anymore, anyway." Raf retorted before holding up a Seal of Orichalcos card.
"You won't tempt me with that again, Rafael." Yami said, sternly. "I wasn't planning on it. But you can have one last look at it while you shuffle my deck. For old time's sake." Raf replied as he approached Yami so that the two could shuffle each other's decks. "I know what you're trying to do and it won't work. I won't give in to my own anger, Yugi taught me that." the ancient one said. "We'll see about that." Raf replied. 'I must stay true to my heart, no matter what he tries to do.' Yami thought before both players returned their respective decks.
"May the best man win. And when I do, you'll be gone forever." Raf said as he walked away and stopped a distance away from Yami. "I'm gonna enjoy this." he added as clouds began to roll in. Raf laughed as his Chaos Disk activated, while at the same time, Yami's Duel Disk activated. And so, with their life points set to 4000 and an equally confident 'Time to duel!' from both players, the game began as they both drew their hands.
"If you remember correctly, I didn't win your title last time, but this time you have no choice but to put it on the line. Now, as the challenger for your championship, I'll start things off. Ready?" Raf said before drawing his first card. 'This'll be a nice way to kick off the festivities.' he thought. "I play Guardian Treasure. As I know you remember, this allows me to draw twice each time my turn starts, but only after I get rid of my current hand." he said before doing so.
"Next I'll summon my trusty Backup Gardna to the field in defense mode." he added before his number one defender appeared. "I'll set a card face down and then let you have a shot." he concluded. "Very well then, my draw!" Yami said before drawing. "I summon my Queen's Knight in defense mode." he said before the first of his Card Knights appeared. "That ends my turn." he concluded. 'He must not have the Seal of Orichalcos yet, hence why he didn't play it right away. Perhaps he's toying with me.' he thought.
"That's all you got? How sad." Raf said before drawing twice. "This should be fun. It's time to remind you why I crushed you the first time, by reuniting you with a friend from our last duel. But first I'll bring out the Gravity Axe!" he continued before said axe came down and hit the field. "And because my Axe is on the field, I'm allowed to summon forth Guardian Grarl!" he added before the first of his guardians appeared.
"As I'm sure you remember, I have to equip my axe to Backup Gardna, which gave him 500 extra attack points. But now I can use its special ability to give my axe to Grarl and give him the 500 points instead." he continued as Grarl's attack points increased to 3000. "Alright, Grarl, attack and destroy his Queen's Knight!" he commanded before, with one overhead slash, the first of the Card Knights was destroyed. "That's enough punishment for now." he concluded.
"Good." Yami said before drawing. "Because now I activate Monster Reborn to bring Queen's Knight back!" he declared before the once destroyed monster was revived, but appeared on the field in attack mode. "Next I'll summon my King's Knight to the field." he added before his second Card Knight appeared. "Now I'll activate his special ability to complete my royal trio of Card Knights! I summon Jack's Knight to the field in attack mode!" he declared as his final Card Knight appeared.
"But I'm not done yet. I activate Brave Attack." he added, surprising Raf. "I know that card! You used it with your Magnet Warriors to destroy Obelisk the Tormentor when you battled Gurimo." the last of the Swordsmen said, remembering that very moment. "Yes. And as you remember, Brave Attack lets me combine all the attack points of my three monsters together. Although they're destroyed after they attack, so will Guardian Grarl." Yami replied.
"I see you haven't learned your lesson about respecting the monsters in your deck, even though that's what did you in last time." Raf stated. "Rafael, its time for me to teach you a lesson about teamwork. Now watch as my three Card Knights unite and destroy your beast!" Yami replied. "Go, my Card Knights, destroy Guardian Grarl with Triple Majestic Slash!" he commanded before the three Card Knights charged.
"Not so fast, Pharaoh! I activate Guardian Force!" Raf retorted before his trap sprung. "This trap allows me to destroy any magic card of my choosing, as long as I don't have any Guardians in my graveyard, that is." he explained before Brave Attack was nullified and destroyed. "Now your Knights can't touch my Guardian. So much for your attempted at a united attack with your Card Knights, Pharaoh." he added. "Then I'll end my turn." Yami replied.
'He countered my strategy and now my Card Knights are open to attack. I need to make a new plan.' he thought. "You're going down, just watch." Raf said before drawing twice. 'If he plays the Seal of Orichalcos now, I'm in trouble and I'll be trapped forever should he win with it on the field.' Yami thought, worried. "I activate, Butterfly Dagger." Raf said before his new weapon appeared in the hand of Backup Gardna.
"This small but effective blade gives Backup Gardna 300 extra attack points." he explained as the creature's total increased to 800. "It also allows me to summon Guardian Elma to the field." he added before his new guardian, a level three, Wind attribute fairy/effect monster with 1300 attack points and 1200 defense points, appeared. "You didn't summon her to the field in our last duel." Yami pointed out.
"There are plenty of cards in my deck you've never seen, not in our last duel or ever. And Elma's effect allows me to bring my Guardian Shield back from the graveyard and give it to her to increase her defense points by 300." Raf replied before Elma's defense points increased to 1500. "Next my Backup Gardna's special ability kicks in and allows me to transfer the Butterfly Dagger to Guardian Elma." he added before Backup Gardna's attack points returned to normal while Elma's attack points increased to 1600.
"Now, Guardian Elma, attack his Queen's Knight!" he commanded before Elma plunged the dagger into the Queen's Knight's heart, destroying her and lowering Yami's life points to 3900. "Your turn, Guardian Grarl, attack his King's Knight with your Gravity Axe!" Raf commanded before the King's Knight's body, shield and sword were sliced in half horizontally, greatly decreasing Yami's life points to 2500.
"What now, Pharaoh? One puny Card Knight stands between me and your life points!" Raf declared. "It's my move!" Yami replied before drawing. "And I activate the magic card, Five Star Twilight!" he declared. "Since my Jack's Knight is a level five monster, I can sacrifice him to summon the Five Kuriboh Brothers!" he continued before his one monster left the field and the brothers Kuri took his place. "Forgive me if I'm not scared." Raf mocked.
"By discarding one trap card to the graveyard, I can activate Kuriboo's special effect, known as the Kuriball!" Yami continued before Kuriboo swallowed his brothers and rolled right into Guardian Grarl, which greatly decreased the guardian's attack points to 1500. "What did you just do to my guardian?" Raf asked, perplexed. "Grarl's been weakened by my Kuriboh Brothers. Thanks to them, your guardian's only have as strong as he once was, so its time for me to finish him off!" Yami replied.
"Now, my Kuriboh Brothers, I combine you together to form Kuribabylon!" he declared before the five fur balls became one. "One problem, your horned powder puff and my guardian have the same attack strength." Raf pointed out. "That's true, but I never said I was finished. So watch as I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon!" Yami retorted before playing said card, worrying Raf. "This card allows me to destroy a single spell or trap card on the field, and I choose your Gravity Axe!" he continued before Grarl's weapon was blown away, lowering his attack points down to 1000.
"And now, Kuribabylon, destroy Guardian Grarl!" the ancient one commanded before the fur ball charged. "Elma, block the attack!" Raf commanded before the lone female guardian stepped in and blocked the oncoming Kuribabylon with her shield, destroying it in the process. "Allow me to explain what just happened, one of the effects of my Guardian Shield allows me to protect any one of my monsters from being destroyed. However, using that effect costs me 500 of my life points." Raf said before his life points lowered to 3500.
'He wasn't kidding about being dedicated to protecting his monsters, he gave up his own strength just to save Grarl.' Yami thought. "I'll set one card face down and end my turn." he said aloud. 'I never met a Duelist like him before. He refuses to let any of his monsters go to the card graveyard by protecting them at all costs. Why would a Duelist like him have the Seal of Orichalcos?' he wondered.
"Rafael, do you not understand what's going on here? As long as you're loyal to Dartz you'll never be true to yourself. You have too much respect for your cards to use them to kill innocents, but Dartz has somehow convinced you that you're somebody else entirely." he stated. "The only thing Master Dartz did was open my eyes to the truth." Raf replied as he drew. "You're wrong." Yami retorted.
"This world has been corrupted and turned into an evil place and you're part of the problem! So I'm here to fix that. And thanks to my master I have just the tool to do it. Now, I play the Seal of Orichalcos!" Raf declared. "No, Rafael! Don't betray your Guardians!" Yami pleaded. "Sorry, Pharaoh, its too late to stop now! Your fate is sealed!" Raf replied as he activated the forbidden field spell.
Meanwhile, in the lobby, the rescue team found Mai's body. "Oh, man. Looks like Mai went through the same thing Joey and Valon did." Mokuba figured. "I don't mean to sound insensitive, but why would she do that when she likely was the one who did it to Joey first?" Tristan asked. Meanwhile, up on the roof, Yami was telling Raf he was making a mistake, but his words fell on deaf ears as the rescue team exited the elevator right at the moment the Seal of Orichalcos encircled both players.
"Your majesty!" Pinkie shouted. "Looks like we're too late, now Yami's gonna have to fight harder than last time." Twilight figured. 'This changes everything. What have you done, Rafael?' Yami thought. "That's more like it." Raf said with a red tint in his eyes and the Seal of Orichalcos on his forehead. It seemed that for all his talk about respecting the monsters in one's deck, he was about to go against all that and watch his own creatures become nightmarish, much like Yami's Kuribabylon in their last duel.